Review: Broken Poetz – The Pen, The Pad & The Things We Had

Broken Poetz hail from Hampshire, the home of hip hop, cricket and finely crafted sandwiches. ‘The Pen, The Pad and The Things We Had’ is Mystero and D.Know’s first release and dropped on 29th March 2013. The 7 track delivery features some sharp samples, exquisite cuts and some top notch rhyme schemes. The result is an LP that keeps you intrigued, each track hitting up a different vibe.

Kicking things off is ‘Choose Life’ which drops in with a smooth old soul sample. Though it would have been nice to make this more of a feature for the track, we got breaks, we got guitars and we got rhymes – nice.

The title track of ‘The Pen, The Pad and The Things We Had’ has to be the top dog of this particular release. Call me whatever you will but I have a supreme soft spot for pitch shifted vocal samples. Only when they work mind you…and here it works. Hidden away near the end of the album is this little gem, I just wish there had been more of this! There’s variation in beat, flow, soundscape – and it works. Or maybe I’ve been listening to too much Luther Vandross of late.

‘Seldom Seen’ was released as a single, and for good reason. An intensely catchy vibe on this one, this track holds your attention well, and offers variety from the opening two tracks. Both emcees come good here, offering insight into their lives and their upbringing.
[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5IL70KeVOo” width=”600″ height=”400″]

Next up we get a reggae driven banger in the form of ‘Hard Road’. Literally the complete antithesis of Dark Skies– I told you they like to mix it up.

‘Broke and Poetz’ immediately blitzes you with some sharp brass chops cut to shreds on with a beat flexing some ‘Breathe and Stop‘ swing. Gracing these snaps is a lyrical mission statement with the duo spitting their 10 pence on their hip hop heritage. Then we go deeper. The ‘Dark Skies’ wordplay works on so many different levels. See?

Life is a struggle some times, it ain’t easy. Working for a minimum wage, it don’t please me. People always fading away, love leaves me. Situation fading to grey, can’t free me

The boys sign off with ‘I Don’t Know You Like You Know Me’ – for which a sneaky tease of a video can be found here. The track features the dulcet tones of Jorja (and a cheeky Fugees sample). The raps just getter better as you get through this album, and this is a prime example – check it.

As varied as this album is, it works as an opus. Though by the time you rinse and repeat you realise that the latter half ticks way more boxes than the first. It acts as a timeline, you can feel these guys getting better as you go through the album. It’s out there in the ether just waiting for you to check it out people, we just thought we’d cut out the middleman. Cop this below, and check out the Broken Poetz’ website.